Egypt has begun implementing its first programme to monitor the movement of migrant birds in the country in a bid to discover if they are able to transmit the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu subtype or not, media reports said.
The 10-day initiative uses remote sensing techniques and satellite tracking of migrant birds. The government programme - which has been carried out before in China, Nigeria and India - is being undertaken in cooperation with the US Geological Survey, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and the US Medical Research Unit.
Meanwhile, Egypt's health ministry said last week that a boy had contracted the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu. He was the second such case in Egypt within a week, bringing the total number of human infections in the country to 56 since 2006.
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The 10-day initiative uses remote sensing techniques and satellite tracking of migrant birds. The government programme - which has been carried out before in China, Nigeria and India - is being undertaken in cooperation with the US Geological Survey, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and the US Medical Research Unit.
Meanwhile, Egypt's health ministry said last week that a boy had contracted the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu. He was the second such case in Egypt within a week, bringing the total number of human infections in the country to 56 since 2006.
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